New Delhi: Shillong M.P. and former Union Minister, Vincent H Pala, who has fought for recognition of the Khasi language in the past, has moved a Private Member’s Bill in the Lok Sabha for its inclusion in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution which will give a fillip to the language spoken by lakhs of tribal people in Northeast India, neighbouring countries and even in parts of South East Asia.
“Khasi is an Indian language widely spoken in Meghalaya and also in parts of East Central Asia, Assam and other States of the North East India like Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. The language is also spoken in Bangladesh and Myanmar,” Pala said while moving the bill on Friday.
There is a long pending demand from the Khasi-speaking people to include Khasi as a language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India so that it is accorded a Constitutional position and a place of pride in the comity of languages. Such an inclusion would bring a massive number of Indians in the North Eastern States especially in Meghalaya, speaking Khasi, into the mainstream and make them feel more patriotic. Khasi itself will find its proud identity in the Constitution, he said.
Khasi has been the ‘associate official language’ in the state of Meghalaya since the year 2005, and as of May 2012, was no longer considered endangered by UNESCO, he argued.